Websites · 6 min read
Websites for tradespeople: what actually gets you the call
A tradesperson's website needs five things: your trade and towns in the headline, a tappable phone number in the header, photos of your own finished jobs, a page per service, and proof you're insured and qualified. Most enquiries are decided on a phone in under a minute, so everything else is secondary.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Updated
How a customer actually uses your site
They search on a phone, often in a hurry. They open two or three sites, glance for whether you do the job and cover their area, look for evidence you're real, and tap to call. That whole sequence takes under a minute. Design for that minute.
The five things that get the call
- A headline that states the trade and the patch: "Roofing in Huddersfield, Brighouse and Halifax".
- A tappable number in the header on every page, plus WhatsApp if that's how people already reach you.
- Ten photos of your own finished work. Not stock. Before-and-after pairs are the strongest.
- A page per service, because "flat roofs" and "emergency repairs" are different searches.
- Insurance, qualifications and accreditations stated plainly — this is what makes a stranger trust you with a deposit.
The five that lose it
- A contact form as the only way to reach you.
- No mention of the towns you cover.
- A gallery that takes ten seconds to load on mobile data.
- A quote form asking twelve questions before you've earned the enquiry.
- A site that hasn't changed since 2019, so the customer can't tell if you're still trading.
Do you need a website if you're busy from word of mouth?
Word of mouth still ends in a search — people look you up before they ring. Having nothing to find costs you the jobs that were already recommended to you, and it caps how much you can grow beyond your existing circle.
Built for the phone, the photos and the phone call.
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
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